Wanting to use some of your favorite papers or new Papercraft CDs for a quick n simple project? Didn’t get a diary for Christmas and wanting something a bit more original than the run of the mill, high street options? Read on :)

I’ve been wanting to do this tutorial for months but Microsoft have only just published this template. Did you know that Microsoft have loads of really useful templates that you can download and print? I found some great calendars on there a couple of years ago.

Method

Cut the printed sheets in half so that the two months next to each other stay joined.

Score the card in half down the short sides. If you wish you can glue the pages together but they will stay together once bound.

BIA Calendar; Inside Pages

Place the printed cardstock into the BIA and punch holes in the blank area next to the named month.

For the Covers

BIA Calendar; Inside of Covers

Take your sheet of A4 decorative paper and cut it in half to A5. Cover each sheet of mat board with a piece of decoartive paper and glue in place using the glue stick. Give a wider fold in of card on one edge, where you will be punching the holes to join the book together.

Once the glue has thoroughly dried, punch the short side of the mat board using the BIA.

**New users check out this video tutorials on You Tube ;)**

Crop A Dilers

Your best tool for punching holes in mat board and chip board is definately the Crop A Dile.

Set the depth of bite to 1/4″. The size of hole you cut will depend on the thickness of your binder rings.

For a three hole book, mark the centre of the short side and punch your first hole there.

Mark the centre of the short side between the last hole and the edge of the board and punch at the top.

Repeat this for the lower hole.

Optional Extras

For a Ribbon Closure

BIA Calendar Tutorial

Tie a length of ribbon around all the pages and the front cover. Glue the centre point of the ribbon underneath the co-ordinating lining paper. Once the glue has dried close your book and use the ribbon to hold the book closed.

Belly Band

Not a pretty name but it can be a pretty result.

Cut a piece of card stock to the desired with and long enough to wrap around your book and overlap itself.

Use decorative scissors or punches for pretty edges.

Wrap the band gently around the short edges of the book. Lightly pressing the edges, remove the band from the book and use a bone folder to reinforce the scored edges.

Allow a half to 1″ over lap and trim off access length of card. Place the band back on the book loosely and glue the ends of the band together. This can be slid off the calendar to open the it or put back on with the calendar set to the current month, to hold the calendar open to the right place.

Embellish the covers with images and text to suit your project. I’ve left mine plain, as I especially liked the paper and it was going to get a lot of use and I didn’t want it to get bulky. I hope you have enjoyed this project and will give it a go. It would be lovely to see your results.

Purpose

It took me a long while to decide that I needed one of these. The original was never going to work for me as the gap the card goes into to punch, was too narrow. This was resolved on the second edition and I was lucky enough to get this for Christmas last year. I thought it would be handy for quick simple projects as an alternative to the hand sewn books I usually create.

Pros/Cons

Pro’s

V2 has a wider ‘throat’ so you can now properly cover mat board or chipboard for a more professional finish to books

Sturdy robust design, does indeed punch through thick card, without much effort

It’s also handy to repair notebooks who’s wire binding has loosened over time ;)

Cons

My DVD instructional guide didn’t work :( luckily the entire thing is on You Tube so I could watch on there

It is quite awkward to use. It’s tricky to keep your project flat and flush with the narrow base of the tool. You can do it, it just takes a while to get used to it.

The instructions aren’t that great. But there are many tutorials on You Tube that help you along.

PINK! Why do so many manufacturers think people want their craft rooms to look like kids rooms! I am not 5, I do not need my tools to be candy pink, so I’ll use them. (Personal gripe, coz I’m not a fan of pink).

Build Quality

Good, the main body of the machine is metal, encased in plastic. This makes for a robust machine.

Value for Money

This depends on how much you will use it ;) Mine was in a sale and at the sale price was good value. To be honest I don’t use it enought to pay the full RRP on it.

Would I buy it Again?

Errr, I’d like to see the Cinch in action before I answer that one. The BIA has the advantage that it is much smaller to store, but the awkwardness in use, seems to be solved by the Cinch design. I prefer how the Cinch lets you place your project flat on the bed of the machine as you punch. But the BIA wins for crimping closed the O wires, the Cinches design may let it down a little in that respect, but I’ve not seen one in person, in action.

Summing up

If you find life too short to sew bind books and like wire bindings, then this is a great little tool. It’s a good price for what it does and is as strong as the advertising suggests. If you get a chance to do a class with one first, it would be a good idea to try before you buy. It is a bit awkward but it is much faster if you want books in a hurry. Makes great little personalised projects quickly, ideal if you want to make memory books for handmade gifts for friends and family.

Links

Bind It All Manufacturers site. Although this product is made by Zutter the, Bind It All has a dedicated website.

Originally this project started out as a way to collect together memorabilia from a holiday, it then evolved into a handy storage journal for hand-made cards.

Card Storage Journal; Cover

This is my first major project with the Bind It All machine and after working out how to make a cutting template so I got the holes just where I wanted them I was much happier. I used mat board for the covers (the kind picture framers use for layering) and added my own stamped papers to decorate the pages.

Card Storage Journal; Inside Cover

On the inside cover I added a pocket to hold stamps, and then each envelope pocket holds a different month’s cards. I made little tab labels to easily navigate to the month I was looking for and the Making Memories Calendar stamp set made a nice finish to them. On the note page on each envelope I’m going to write the date and name of the person who needs a card, then when I’ve made a card I just pop it in the envelope ready. No more scrabbling around at the last-minute. I was going to add a ribbon closure then forgot when I pasted on the end papers DOH, now I’m waiting as I’m saving up for one of Tim Holtz Sizzix dies and hope to make a fancy closure with it and some grunge paper.

Card Storage Journal; Inside Pages

This would make a great present for a friend and if you would like a detailed tutorial on how to make one leave me a comment and I’ll try to get one up in good time so you can make some as holiday gifts for friends and family.

Today I would like to share a review of the Bind It All Tool Kit made by a company called Zutter. This kit is made to accompany their Bind It All machine but is a very useful starter kit for all kinds of papercrafter.

Features of the Kit

A sturdy cover with a zip round closure keeps all the contents secure and clean

Elasticated bands hold all the tools securely, but also make them easy to access

A pen

A 15cm ruler

A needle/piercing tool which has a srew off end that allows you to store needles within the tool itself.

A bone folder

A Craft Knife

Spare blades for the craft knife

A retractable tape measure

On the second panel, over the page as it were are the following tools;

A pair of scissors, small but very sharp.

A pair of round nose pliers

A pair of wire cutters

Here are detail pictures of the needle holder. Unscrew the end and you can store needles inside the piercing tool.

So who is this kit for?

This kit contains all the basic tools to get you started and would be very useful to the following groups;

Bookbinders

Paper crafters

Scrapbookers and card makers; this is great for taking to clubs and classes.

Jewellry makers

On line demo

The wonderful people over at the Paper Studio have made a video that shows you all the contents of this tool kit and how it would be useful to bookbinders.

News Updates

New projects have been added to the tabs across the top of the blog.
Check out the 'About' tab, for Challenge themes and free downloadable Calendar Pages are now on there too. Now you can access these all year long.
Just had a tidy up of the side bar and joined Pinterest, do use the follow button to keep up to date with new posts and updates.
Have fun
Billie :)

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